Tell Me
by blugirlami21
Summary: What do you do, when you know something's bad for you, but you just can't let it go?


Sasuke opened the door to a dark apartment. He sighed a little and checked the time on his wrist watch, rubbing the back of his neck to ease the fatigue. It was after midnight. Walking to the kitchen hoping that Naruto had left dinner he was surprised to see that the dining table had been set for what had seemed to be a romantic evening. Candles, adorned the table with two plates of the lasagna Naruto would make for him on special occasions, cold now and seemingly forgotten. Now that he was paying attention he could hear soft music in the background.

Brows furrowed, Sasuke glanced at the date on his watch and cursed under his breath in realization.

"Finally figure it out huh?" An unfamiliar cold voice asked from the dark hallway. Black eyes looked up from his watch to catch the bright blue eyes that were staring sadly at him. The light from the candles casting his face in shadow and glancing off the blonde strands of hair.

Naruto was leaning against the hallway door with his arms folded across his chest. He seemed to gather himself before standing erect and coming forward to face Sasuke.

The voice continued on without waiting for an answer, more than a hint of reproach creeping in, "What was it this time? Orochimaru needed you to stay late again? Flat tire? A monsoon? Naruto's voice was quiet instead of the usual angry loud that Naruto would be when they usually argued and that scared Sasuke more than anything else.

"Naruto, I-"

"You what? You're never here anymore. How could you forget about this day? How could forget about me?"

"I need to work hard to provide for us," Sasuke ignored the angry snort from the blond and soldiered on, "I'm doing this for you Dobe!"

"For me? For us? Who are you kidding with that Sasuke? You say that like this is the first time this has happened. When was the last time we had dinner together, just us? Just me and you? No working late, no long work weekends, no boss calling you at all hours of the night? You think I don't know about those private dinners you have with that snake you call an employer?"

Sasuke tried not to let Naruto's accusations get to him but it was getting hard let them slide. He didn't like what Naruto was accusing him of. How could he ever think he would do something like that?

"Dobe, that's not-"

"It's not what I think? Do you remember what you did the last time I saw you with him? You could barely remember who I was-"

"That's not true-"

"Isn't it? You know how I feel about him, about your relationship with him. His interest in you is disgusting considering how old he is. He has made his interest in you outside of the office more than obvious why would you give him any new ideas?"

"Naruto, you know that it's just business. Appearances, I don't want him to know…" Sasuke cut himself off, certain he didn't want to finish his sentence if the new fire in Naruto's eyes was anything to go by.

"Don't want him to know what? That you have someone? That you have a boyfriend waiting at home for you instead of a wife?"

"I swear I have never thought that about you or about us." Sasuke had crossed the distance between the two of them to grip Naruto's shoulders with his hands, "What do you want me to say, Naruto? I'm sorry? I'm sorry, I am so sorry Naruto" Sasuke whispered.

As Naruto really looked at Sasuke all the anger left him in a rush only to be replaced by a near despair. He loved Sasuke so much. This was not the same man that he fell in love with all those years ago. Did Sasuke realize that? Did he even care? He slowly placed his hand under Sasuke's chin to raise his gaze to his and spoke the words that he knew would break his own heart in two.

Naruto could feel the tears burning at the back of his eyes, "Sorry isn't enough this time."

Sasuke heard the sentence as if it was coming from a far off. He couldn't believe that this could be the end of his relationship with Naruto. He couldn't lie to himself anymore and say that he hadn't seen the signs.

In the beginning of their relationship Sasuke had known what he had found in Naruto and he had treated him like the treasure he was. They used to want nothing more than to spend time with each other and the more Naruto gave the more Sasuke took.

Naruto had stopped calling him at work when he stopped taking his calls. Naruto had stopped waiting up for him to come home at whatever late hour he decided to call it quits. He couldn't remember the last time that he had told Naruto how much he meant to him. He knew what he should do but he couldn't give him up. Not yet.

Black eyes searched blue, desperation creeping into his voice, "Naruto, please. Dobe please don't…"

"I'm so tired Sasuke," Naruto whispered a tear rolling down his face, "I'm so tired of giving and giving to this relationship and getting nothing in return. Do you even love me anymore? Do you even want me anymore?"

Cupping Naruto's face, Sasuke gently wiped away the tears, "Don't do that Dobe. Of course I want you, of course I love you. So much. What can I do? What can I do to fix this? I don't want to lose you, you're the only one I want Naruto, please.

Sasuke rubbed his hands up and down Naruto's arms as he waited for some kind of response. Any response. He didn't know what else to say, didn't know what else to do at this point. He couldn't help but think about all those missed opportunities he had to tell him what was in his heart, to say all the things he should have said and now it seemed to be too late.

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath, shuddering a little as he let it out. Sasuke was saying everything right; he was saying everything he had wanted to hear for the last year and a half. A part of him didn't want to care; the part of him that didn't want to be hurt anymore did not want to care about a word that came out of the Teme's mouth. But that was only a small part in comparison to the part of him that wanted to work it out, the part of him that wanted to be with Sasuke more than anything else in the world.

The big part won.

Naruto hesitated but spoke the words anyway, "…tell me."

Sasuke felt like he could actually breathe now. Tell me was a game that they would play in the beginning of their relationship, a macho way of telling each other that they loved each other and would overcome whatever or whoever tried to come between them by telling each other what they disliked and ultimately loved the most about each other.

Sasuke slowly wrapped his arms around Naruto's tense body and brought his hands to rest on the small of his back, his lips to the blonds' ear.

This was it, Sasuke thought. His head and heart screaming at him not to blow this, not to mess this up. Again. Licking his lips in uncharacteristic nervousness, Sasuke tried to get the words out of his heart and past his lips.

"I hate…I hate the way you look at me like I'm the only person in the room." He muttered shakily.

There was a scary silence before Naruto replied back, "I hate way you grunt at me and I can understand you anyway."

"I hate your laugh and your smile when they are directed at anyone but me."

"I hate that you can make me feel like the most wanted person in the room with a flick of your eyebrow and a smirk."

"I hate that you have become my family and therefore the most important person in my life." Naruto heard those words and they were like a balm on his sore heart. But the hurt was still there, an insistent ache in the pit of his stomach.

Naruto bit his lip before laying bare his worst fear, "I hate that you can hurt me the most Sasuke…more than anyone else in the entire world, Teme."

'Don't hurt me again' was both heard and unspoken in the ensuing silence between them.

Sasuke shook his head and pulled Naruto's body close to him and placing a chaste kiss on his nose. His fingers gently rubbing scarred cheeks, "I won't Dobe. I promise I won't be careless again with what we have. I'm never going to want anyone else as much as I want you."

Blue eyes searched black ones before leaning forward to press his lips to Sasuke's. Naruto rested his head in the crook of Sasuke's neck, his hand above the raven's heart.

"Tell me again, Teme…."


End file.
